Molded plastic pallet having a snap in signal transmitter and method of making same

ABSTRACT

A twin-sheet, thermoformed pallet is configured with a bottom-opening recess shaped to receive and hold in place a signal transmitting device. The recess has undercuts that allow the device to be snapped in. The recess has a lateral extrusion for a tool to pry the device out for replacement or servicing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/599,125 filed on Dec. 15, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein in its entirely by reference.

SUMMARY

This application discloses a twin sheet thermoformed plastic pallet having a recess formed in a bottom surface to receive a signal transmitter such as a GPS transponder. The recess is formed during the thermoforming process with undercuts on the side wall to allow the transmitter to be snapped in place. One or more lateral extensions on the recess side wall allow the transmitter to be removed for service and/or replacement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention described herein is the combination of a molded plastic pallet having a top load bearing surface and a bottom surface with support legs extending integrally therefrom. Formed in the bottom surface of the pallet is a recess which may be cylindrical, and which extends up into the internal space of the pallet on the order of three to four inches. The recess has a wall and at a partial depth within the wall at least two non-continuous; i.e. spaced apart, opposed undercuts are formed. Between the undercuts, at least one lateral extension is formed in the recess which, in the case of a cylindrical recess, extends radially from the center of the recess out a short distance. Of course, the recess need not be cylindrical as transmitters come in many shapes and the recess in preferably shaped to match that of the transmitter. A signal transmitting device such a GPS transmitter/transponder is snapped into the recess above the undercuts so as to be held in place thereby. The depth location of the undercuts is such the exposed surface of the signal device is not flush with the bottom surface of the pallet but, rather, lies well within the recess so as to be spaced above the bottom surface of the pallet when the pallet is in the normal upright position on a substantially horizontal support surface. The lateral extension allows a tool to be inserted into the recess to pry the signaling device out of the recess for replacement or rearming purposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention will be best understood from the within detailed description of an embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top surface of a twin sheet thermoformed pallet taken from U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,545;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom surface of the pallet of FIG. 1 showing the recess in the bottom surface with a GPS transmitter/transponder fitted therein;

FIG. 3 is a close-up view of the pallet bottom from FIG. 2 showing the undercuts in the recess side wall and the lateral extension for removal purposes in greater detail;

FIG. 4 is a close-up of the pallet bottom showing the empty recess and the depth thereof;

FIG. 5 shows another pallet bottom with an alternative configuration for the GPS receiving recess, this recess having four lateral extensions for removal of the transmitter;

FIG. 6 is an image of a disk-shaped transmitter/transponder suitable for use in the apparatus of FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing of the pallet recess showing schematically how a grooved GPS transmitter is snapped into place within the recess; and

FIG. 8 is a rendering of a thermoforming insert which is used to modify a thermoforming mold so as to form the cavity of FIGS. 1-4 in the pallet bottom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary twin sheet molded plastic pallet 10 in perspective view. This drawing is taken from issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,545, issued Sep. 14, 1999; the inventor is Lyle H. Shuert. The pallet has a generally planar top loading surface 16, a bottom surface which does not show in FIG. 1 and nine thermoformed pallet legs 18 which afford four-way entry of a forklift for handling purposes. This particular twin sheet pallet is merely representative of a variety of molded plastic pallets that can be used in connection with the invention disclosed herein. The important factor is that the pallet structure has a depth between the bottom surface and the top loading surface to accommodate a recess for a signal device. This depth may, for example, be on the order of about three to five inches.

FIG. 2 shows the bottom surface 20 of the nine-legged pallet to include thermoformed therein a general circular deep recess 24 shaped and sized to receive a generally disk-shaped, battery-powered signal transmitter/transponder 22 therein. In this case, the transmitter 22 is a GPS transmitter/transponder with a circular shape but can be any of a variety of other signal sources capable of sending RF signals representing such information as location, temperature and other metrics or conditions. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the recess 24 is deep enough that the exposed surface of the transmitter/transponder is well inside of the bottom surface of the pallet 10. The location is arbitrary, but it is preferably in a smooth generally planar surface between the bosses shown in FIG. 2 and one of the adjacent legs.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the shape and depth of the recess 24 is shown in detail to include a generally circular side wall having diametrically opposed circumferential and non-continuous arcuate undercut snap tabs 26 and 28 formed therein. In addition, a lateral extension 30 of the recess side wall 24 is formed in the recess between the undercuts to provide clearance for any external protuberances on the side surface of the transmitter/transponder 22 and to allow access for a pry tool to pry the transmitter/transponder 22 from the recess for recovery and/or servicing purposes. Again, the circular shape is shown by way of example rather than by way of limitation.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment in which the cavity is formed with four lateral extensions 31 and at least two undercuts 33 to provide access for a user's fingers or a pry tool for removal of the GPS device.

FIG. 6 shows a representative commercially available GPS transmitter/transponder 22. While shown as circular with a circumferential, “belt line” 32, the shape of the device is arbitrary and can be square or rectangular, the recess being shaped to correspond to the shape of the device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing of a recess 24 in the thermoformed plastic pallet 10 showing the undercut snap tabs 26 and 28. FIG. 7 also shows the circular outer wall 32 of the GPS device 22.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an insert 36 which is placed in the mold structure in the thermoforming process to form the recess in the bottom of what would otherwise be a conventional twin sheet pallet. The embossed arrow 38 creates a guide in the final molded article to indicate the extrusion direction of the plastic sheet material that was used in the thermoforming process to form the twin sheet pallet. The extension 30 in the recess is formed by an appendix 40 on the side of insert 36.

Summarizing, the insert 36 is used in the thermoforming process for the production of a twin sheet thermoformed nine-legged plastic pallet to form a deep recess in the bottom surface of the pallet of a shape and depth to receive the battery-operated signaling device in the form of a GPS/transponder. Undercuts in the recess allow the device to be snapped into the recess with the exposed surface of the transmitter/transponder below the bottom surface of the pallet to prevent damage to the device during transportation and handling of the pallet and the associated load.

The transmitter/transponder is battery operated and preferably requires no external antenna wires. It may be activated by a signal to transmit, for example, an omni-directional GPS signal containing the coordinates of the location of the transmitter/transponder and the pallet into which the device is installed. With this arrangement, the location of the pallet can be determined at all times whether it be in a warehouse or other locations, loaded or unloaded, or in a transportation medium enroute to an assigned destination. The transmitter can be easily snapped into place without the use of tools and removed by a simple prying operation.

It is to be understood that the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to an illustrative embodiment and the various modifications and changes to the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. 

What is claimed:
 1. In combination: a molded plastic pallet having a top load-carrying surface and bottom surface with integral uniformly spaced legs extending therefrom; an internally-walled recess having a peripheral shape formed in the pallet and opening to the bottom surface; the recess having a wall with a predetermined depth measured from the bottom surface and, at a fraction of said depth, a plurality of non-continuous undercuts formed therein; the recess having a predetermined shape with at least one lateral extension formed therein between undercuts; and a battery operated signaling device having a body with a peripheral shape generally corresponding to the peripheral shape of said wall exclusive of said extension and of a depth such as to allow the transmitter to snap into place within the undercuts so as to place the signaling device wholly above the bottom surface when the pallet is placed on a substantially horizontal support surface.
 2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the signaling device is disk-shaped and the peripheral shape of the recess is generally cylindrical, and the extension is radial.
 3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the undercuts are two in number and are uniformly and diametrically opposed to one another.
 4. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the number of undercuts is four and said four undercuts are uniformingly spaced but non-continuous so as to provide peripheral spaces between them, said at a least one extension extending from the recess between two of the undercut.
 5. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the pallet is of twin-sheet construction.
 6. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the signaling device is a GPS transmitter.
 7. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the signaling device is a transponder.
 8. A thermoformed twin sheet plastic pallet having a bottom surface and a recess formed in the bottom surface and having a side wall to receive therein a signal transmitter/transponder, the side wall of the recess is formed with snap tabs having undercuts which allow the device to be snapped in place are held by the undercuts, the recess having a lateral extension to allow the signal device to be removed for recovery and/or replacement purposes.
 9. A method of making a thermoformed pallet capable of removably carrying a signal transmitting device comprising the steps of: (a) placing an insert in a thermoforming mold configured to produce a recess in a pallet formed in said mold; (b) thermoforming a pallet within said mold and around said mold insert and, therefore, (c) snapping a signal transmitting device into said recess. 